USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II > Part 22
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souri delegation in a national convention, therefore, would be composed of thirty-four members. The delegates in Missouri, and in most of the other States, are chosen by the State convention. When a national con- vention meets to nominate a presidential ticket, the practice is, first to call a tempo- rary chairman, or president, to preside, until an organization is effected; a committee on credentials is appointed, and also a commit- tee on permanent organization-the former to examine the credentials of each State dele- gation, and report to the convention the names of the properly authorized delegates, and the latter to report the names of the permanent officers of the convention. When the reports of these committees are made and accepted, the permanent officers take their places and the organization is accom- plished. Then follows the appointment of a committee on platform, which also makes re- port, and then follows the presentation of candidates for nomination, first, for Presi- dent and afterward for Vice President. The State convention for nominating candidates for State offices is called by the State cen- tral committee, which prescribes the basis of representation of the counties in it-usually one delegate for every specified number of votes cast for a prominent candidate of the party at the last preceding election. It is the custom for the State convention to pre- sent a platform. In all the States the par- ties hold, each, a State convention once in four years; in Missouri it is the custom to hold one every two years, for nominating the State officers to be elected. The con- gressional conventions are held every two years, to nominate candidates for Congress, and the county conventions also are held every two years. All the committees-the national committee, State central commit- tee, congressional committee, county cen- tral committee, and others, though not recognized official bodies, and only voluntary party organizations, are perpetual, and the nominating conventions, though destitute of all legal authority, are permanent voluntary institutions of the country.
The first national political convention ever held west of the Mississippi River was the National Democratic Convention, which met in the hall of the Merchants' Exchange, June 27, 1876. Extraordinary prominence was given to this assemblage by the political con-
dition of the country at the time, and the prospect of Democratic success in the cam- paign. All the great cities of the country were competitors for the honor of entertain- ing the convention, which was secured for St. Louis on the fifth ballot. The hall was tendered by the merchants, and funds for dec- orating it and for the bestowal and enter- tainment of the delegates were contributed by the citizens without stint. On the opening, the spectacle of nearly 8,000 people on the floor and in the galleries, amidst a display of national and State colors, intermingled with elaborate floral ornamentation, was animated and inspiring. Honorable Augustus Schell, of New York, chairman of the national com- mittee, called the convention to order and de- livered a short address, and upon his motion Colonel Henry Watterson, of Kentucky, was chosen to preside temporarily. Bishop Mar- vin, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, offered a prayer, when the temporary organization was completed by the appoint- ment of F. O. Prince, of Massachusetts, as secretary, and Captain Dan Able, of Missouri, as sergeant-at-arms. The usual committees were then announced, after which Miss Phoebe Couzins was granted permission to present a memorial of the Woman's Suffrage Association, asking that the platform might contain a plank favoring the right of women to vote. At the evening session the organiza- tion committee reported the names of General John A. McClernand, of Illinois, president, with a list of vice presidents and secretaries from each State and several read- ing secretaries, including N. M. Bell, of St. Louis. Captain Able was continued as ser- geant-at-arms. At the afternoon session of the second day, Honorable William Dor- sheimer, of New York, chairman of the committee on resolutions, reported the plat- form, written by Manton Marble, then editor of the "New York World." This document reaffirmed faith in the permanence of the Union and devotion to the Constitution with its amendments ; supremacy of the civil over the military ; separation of church and State ; liberty of individual conduct unvexed by sumptuary laws; denounced the existing tariff, demanding that all customhouse tax- ation should be only for revenue and calling for reform in public expenditures and the waste of public lands; condemned sectarian strife in respect to schools; appealed for re-
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form of the civil service ; closing with a de- mand for "change of system, a change of administration, a change of party, that we may have a change of measures and of men." The report as presented denounced "the re- sumption clause of the act of 1875," and de- manded its repeal. From this the members of the committee from Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maine and New York dissented, mov- ing that it be stricken out. A minority report was made by the members of the committee from Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Pennsyl- vania, Iowa, West Virginia, Kansas and Mis- souri (Governor Hardin) moving an amend- ment to demand the repeal of the law to resume specie payments January 1, 1879. The first dissenting report denounced one clause only of the resumption act, leaving the rest to stand unobjected to and by implica- tion approved, whereas the other demanded the repeal of the whole law. The debate that followed showed that the question involved was one between "hard" and "soft" money. The vote was taken on whether the majority report should be amended by striking out any part of it and resulted, ayes, 219; noes, 519. Nominations being in order, Mr. Whitely, of Delaware, presented the name of Thomas F. Bayard ; Mr. Williams, of Indiana, that of Thomas A. Hendricks; Mr. Abbott, of New Jersey, that of Joel Parker, and Mr. Kernan, of New York, that of Samuel J. Tilden. There had been great opposition to the nomination of Mr. Tilden by the Tam- many organization of New York, represented by John Kelly. This gentleman supported Hendricks, and, in a speech, vigorously op- posed Tilden's nomination. William Allen, of Ohio, was proposed by Mr. Ewing, and General Hancock by Mr. Clymer, of Penn- sylvania. Missouri offered the name of James O. Broadhead. Mr. Tilden was nominated on the second ballot. At the third day's session Thomas A. Hendricks was nominated for Vice President, there being but a single ballot.
The Democratic National Convention of 1888 met at Exposition Hall, St. Louis, on June 5th, of that year, and was in session three days. Reception committees of citizens were appointed for all the delegations, and under the direction of National Committee- man John G. Prather, everything possible was done to entertain both delegates and visit- ing spectators. A grand civic and military
parade, in which 4,000 people joined, took place on the evening of June 5th. Arches were thrown across several of the principal streets, which were illuminated with many thousand gas jets and vari-colored glass globes. The Convention Hall was draped with American flags and colors and festoons of evergreens, interspersed with countless in- candescent electric bulbs, the coats-of-arms of the different States indicating the location of the several delegations. An immense crowd of people, including numerous political clubs with bands of music, thronged the city. The convention was called to order by Chairman Barnum, of the national committee, and prayer was offered by Bishop J. C. Gran- berry, of St. Louis. Temporary organiza- tion was effected, with Stephen M. White, of California, chairman; F. O. Prince, of Mas- sachusetts, secretary ; Richard J. Bright, of Indiana, sergeant-at-arms; and after the ap- pointing of the working committee adjourn- ment was taken till the following day. The permanent officers were Patrick A. Collins, of Massachusetts, president ; H. H. Ingersoll, of Tennessee, secretary, with a list of vice presidents and secretaries from each of the States and Territories. Mrs. E. A. Merri- wether, of St. Louis, appeared on the plat- form with a number of other ladies, and made an appeal for equal rights for women in the affairs of the nation. Amidst the greatest enthusiasm Mr. Daniel Dougherty, of New York, placed in nomination Grover Cleveland for President of the United States. No other name was mentioned, and Mr. Cleveland was unanimously nominated for the office which he then held. At the open- ing session, June 7th, the platform was reported through Henry Watterson, of Ken- tucky. The resolutions pointed to the restor- ation during Mr. Cleveland's administration of 100,000,000 acres of lands reclaimed from corporations, to his prudent foreign policy, the exclusion of Chinese laborers, the reformation of the civil service and the position of the Democracy in regard to un- necessary taxation and to tariff reform. In a word, they made the administration of Mr. Cleveland the platform of the party in the election of 1888. The resolutions were adopted with practical unanimity. The roll was then called for nominations for Vice President. Mr. Tarpey, of California, named Allen G. Thurman ; Senator Voorhees named
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Isaac P. Gray, of Indiana; T. M. Patterson, of Colorado, named John C. Black, of Illinois. Before the first ballot was concluded it was evident that Thurman was the choice of the convention, and his nomination was made unanimous. And so the Democratic ticket was Cleveland and Thurman.
The third national political convention held in St. Louis was that of the Republicans, June 16-18, 1896. At an expenditure of about $60,000 a spacious auditorium was especially erected for the purpose by the citizens, and located near the new city hall on Washing- ton square. Delegates were in attendance from every State and Territory, and the oc- casion brought together a great concourse of people from all parts of the Union. The convention was called to order by Senator Thomas H. Carter, of Montana, chairman of the Republican National Committee. Prayer was offered by Rabbi Samuel Sale, of St. Louis, after which Charles W. Fairbanks, of Indiana, was chosen temporary chairman, with Charles W. Johnson, of Minnesota, for temporary secretary. The usual committees on permanent organization, credentials, rules and resolutions were selected, and the con- vention adjourned for the day. Proceedings of the second day were opened with prayer by Dr. W. G. Williams, of the Union Meth- odist Episcopal Church, St. Louis. Senator John M. Thurston was elected permanent president, with a list of vice presidents from each of the States and Territories. At the afternoon session, after the settlement of the contested cases from Delaware and Texas, the convention adopted the report of the com- mittee on rules and an adjournment was taken to Thursday, June 18th, when the platform was reported. The resolutions ar- raigned the policy of the Democratic party ; renewed and emphasized Republican allegi- ance to the policy of protection and reciproc- ity; pronounced in favor of discriminating duties in support of American shipping in- terests; declared "unreservedly for sound money" and in opposition to the free coinage of silver except by international agreement ; reasserted the Monroe doctrine ; sympathized with the Cuban struggle for independence ; demanded thorough enforcement of the im- migration laws; renewed previous declara- tions for the enforcement and extension of the civil service law ; favored the creation of a national board of arbitration to adjust differ-
ences between employers and employes engaged in interstate commerce; and advo- cated returning to the free homestead policy. A substitute was offered by Senator Teller, of Colorado, in behalf of himself and other "silver" members of the committee, for the "sound money" plank, which, on motion of Senator Foraker, of Ohio, was laid on the table by a vote of 8181/2 to 1051/2. On the adoption of the platform in its original shape, Senator Teller read a formal protest against the financial feature, signed by himself and delegates from Idaho, Utah, Montana and Nevada, and then left the hall in company with about twenty other bolters. When the roll of States was called for presidential nom- inations, the names were presented of Wil- liam B. Allison, of Iowa; Thomas B. Reed, of Maine; Levi P. Morton, of New York; William McKinley, of Ohio, and Mathew S. Quay, of Pennsylvania. Mckinley was nom- inated on the first ballot, the vote being: Allison, 351/2; Morton, 58; Quay, 611/2; Reed, 841/2 ; Mckinley, 6611/2, or 422 more than all the rest combined. For Vice Presi- dent the nomination fell to Garret A. Hobart, of New Jersey. Henry Clay Evans, of Ten- nessee, received 2771/2 votes ; Hobart, 5331/2. Of the new national committee, Marcus A. Hanna, of Ohio, was selected as chairman. The auditorium building in which the con- vention was held remained standing for some months and was then torn down. It was 260 feet long, 180 feet wide, and 50 feet in height, with a seating capacity of 40,000.
The People's Party assembled in national convention July 23, 1896, at the Auditorium, St. Louis, with 1,400 delegates from the dif- ferent States and Territories, and a large throng of spectators. The membership con- tained many persons of prominence, such as Senators Allen, of Nebraska ; Butler, of South Carolina, and Peffer, of Kansas; Governor Waite, of Colorado; Governor Holcomb, of Nebraska ; General Weaver, of Iowa; "Gen- eral" Coxey, of the "Commonweal Army," and Captain Kolb, of Alabama, and others. The convention was called to order by Chair- man Taubeneck, of the executive committee. Prayer was offered by Rev. W. L. Smith, of the Third Baptist Church, of St. Louis. An address of welcome was delivered by Gov- ernor Stone, of Missouri, responded to by Ignatius Donnelly, after which Senator But- ler was called to the temporary chairmanship.
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The permanent organization was effected by the election of Senator Allen as president, with a list of subordinate officials. General Weaver was chosen chairman of the platform committee. The resolutions demanded "a national money, safe and sound, issued by the government only," to be a full legal tender ; free coinage at a ratio of 16 of silver to I of gold; increase of the volume of circulating medium; no sale of bonds except by act of Congress ; prevention of demonetization of lawful money by contract, and graduated in- come tax; declared in favor of government ownership of railroads and telegraphs; fore- closure of existing liens on defaulted rail- roads; reclamation of all lands held by rail- roads in excess of needs for the benefit of actual settlers; favored direct legislation through the initiative and referendum, and the election of President, Vice President and Senators by direct vote ; advocated the recog- nition of Cuban independence; advised the employment of idle labor on government work in times of industrial depression; and announced the financial question to be the paramount issue. July 25th the convention nominated William J. Bryan on the first bal- lot, which stood: Bryan, 1,042; Norton, 321 ; Debs, 8; Donnelly, I ; Coxey, I. One ballot, as follows, was taken for the vice presidential candidate : Watson, 561 5-9; Sewell, 256 3-5 ; Mimms, 127 5-16; Burket, 193 3-4; Skinner, 142 I-4; Page, 89 5-16. Changes were made to Watson, giving him more than a major- ity, when he was nominated by acclamation.
The National Bimetallic Party Conven- tion of 1896 was held in the Grand Music Hall of the Exposition Building, July 23-24, and elected General A. J. Warner, of Ohio, temporary, and William P. St. John, of New York, permanent chairman, with the usual complement of officers and committees. The platform declared the money question to be the chief issue, opposing the single gold standard and demanding the restoration of the unrestricted coinage of both silver and gold at the ratio of 16 to I, each to be of full legal tender for all debts; all currency to be issued by the general government only ; de- nouncing the issue of interest-bearing bonds in time of peace; and endorsing Bryan and Sewell for President and Vice President. These resolutions were adopted by a rising vote. A canvass of the delegates showed the convention was composed of 526 former Re-
publicans, 135 Democrats, 47 Populists, 9 Prohibitionists, I Greenbacker, and 12 Inde- pendents.
In 1900 the Democratic National Conven- tion was held in Kansas City, in the splendid Convention Hall of that city. At that con- vention William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, was a second time, nominated for President, and Adlai E. Stevenson, of Illinois, for Vice President. The Free Silver Republicans also held their national convention in Kansas City that year.
Convents in St. Louis .- Wherever the Catholic Church has an existence there are to be found the houses occupied by re- ligious recluses, which are known as con- vents. The founders and early settlers of St. Louis having been of the Catholic faith, it followed as a natural consequence that in- stitutions of this kind planted there should have been among the earliest established in any part of the Western country. The growth of the church has kept pace with the growth of the city, and convents have multiplied, until in 1898 many such institutions were in existence in the city under the control of various sisterhoods, devoting themselves to religious, educational and humanitarian work. The oldest convent in St. Louis, and one of the oldest in the West, is the Con- vent and Institute of the Sacred Heart, es- tablished in 1827, when John Mullanphy donated to the sisters of this order a tract of twenty-six acres of land, of which the block on Fifth, between Hickory and La- badie Streets, is the remnant, on condition that they should perpetually support twenty orphan girls. A house stood on the prop- erty. In 1837 a chapel was built on the south side of the building ; in 1844 class rooms were added on the north, and in 1859 a building was erected on the north end. The Mary- ville property, situated on Meramec and Nebraska Avenues, containing twenty-one acres, was bought of John Withnell in 1864, for forty thousand dollars. The construc- tion of the convent building was begun in 1867, and it was opened in August, 1872. In 1891 property was purchased on Taylor and Maryland Avenues, and a large and hand- some building erected on it was completed in 1893 and given the name, "Convent and Academy of the Sacred Heart." Both these institutions have since been conducted under
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the auspices of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Since the last named institution was established the twenty orphan girls whom the Sisters were obligated to support by provis- ions coupled with the bequest of John Mullan- phy have been maintained at this convent.
St. Joseph's Convent and Academy is con- ducted under the auspices of the Sisters of St. Joseph, a Catholic order founded by Rev. P. J. Medaille, S. J., and which had its first establishment in the town of Puy, in Velay, France, where Madame Lucretia de la Planche gave the Sisters an abode in her house until, on October 15, 1650, the Bishop of Puy gave them charge of the orphan asylum of that city. In 1836, at the invita- tion of Bishop Rosati, six Sisters of the order came to St. Louis and established themselves at Cahokia, in Illinois, where they conducted for nearly eight years a flourish- ing school. September 12, 1836, the first novitiate of the order was founded in Caron- delet and was presided over for twenty years by Mother Celestine. It occupied at first a log cabin fifteen feet square, and its one room served at once for oratory, dormitory, refec- tory, kitchen and parlor. A frame shed was added and used for parochial school pur- poses. The great flood of 1844 compelled the Sisters to abandon their establishment at Cahokia, and soon afterward the present grounds at Third and Kansas Streets, Caron- delet, were given to them by Judge Bryan Mullanphy, and a large brick building was erected thereon, which burned down in 1858. The present structure was begun immedi- ately afterward. It is the mother house of this sisterhood in the United States, and has under its jurisdiction 65 subordinate estab- lishments, including 3 provincial novitiates, 5 hospitals, 10 orphan asylums, I deaf mute institute and several academies. The total number of Sisters owing allegiance to this order or house is 800.
The sisterhood of the Nuns of the Visita- tion was originally founded in 1610, in Haute- Savoie, France, by St. Francis of Sales and Ste. Jane Frances, Baroness of Chantal. The Sisters first came to this country in 1799 and established an academy in Georgetown, D. C., which is still in existence. In 1833 a branch of this house was established in the town of Kaskaskia, Illinois, and remained there for nearly eleven years. In the great "freshet" of 1844 the whole town of Kas-
kaskia was laid under water and the inhab- itants were compelled to take refuge on the bluffs beyond the Okaw River. The con- vent grounds extended to the banks of the Okaw, but as the location was elevated, it was thought secure. About the first of April the Mississippi River was very high, and still rising. As this rise occurred every spring, nothing serious was apprehended, but on the night of June 2Ist the water rushed into the convent cellar. The convent could now be approached only on horseback or in boats. At 6 o'clock that evening Amadee Menard brought a flatboat, with oarsmen, and taking on Mother Isabella, with a num- ber of nuns and pupils, conveyed them to his own residence, on the neighboring bluffs. Next morning-Sunday-Father St. Cyr said mass in the convent chapel for the last time for those who remained. On going to breakfast the Sisters found the water oozing in under the floor at one end. When break- fast was over they began to remove the fur- niture to the next floor, where they passed the rest of the day. In the evening they left the convent and went to the bluffs, where they were kindly entertained at the Menard mansion for two days. On Wednesday morning a steamboat came up the Okaw, and the Sisters, with their sixteen pupils, went on board. After their furniture had been re- moved from the convent to the boat they steamed for St. Louis. Here, by the kind- ness of Mrs. Ann Biddle, the refugees were installed in her home, on Broadway, which they occupied for two years. In July, 1846, they rented the archbishop's newly erected building on South Ninth Street, and contin- ued to occupy it until 1858, when a build- ing was occupied which had been erected on a tract of land on Cass Avenue, above Twentieth Street, which Mrs. Ann Biddle had bequeathed to them for the purpose. The foundations of this building were laid in the autumn of 1854. April 13, 1855, the insti- tution was incorporated under the title of the Academy of the Visitation at St. Louis. In 1891 the Sisters purchased eleven acres of ground in Cabanne Place, between Union and Belt Avenues, and erected a large and handsome building, which will accommodate 115 pupils. They removed from Cass Ave- nue to the present location in the fall of 1893. The building was consecrated in Jan- uary, 1894.
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June 21, 1847, six Sisters of Loretto, with Mother Eleonora Clark, superior, came to St. Louis and took possession of the estab- lishment which the Sisters of the Sacred Heart had abandoned, and which then con- sisted of a two-story brick house, built by Father Dunan, and some old, dilapidated cabins. These, with three acres of land, they at first rented for one year at two hun- dred dollars. They subsequently purchased the buildings and five acres of ground for one thousand dollars. The order of the Sis- ters of Loretto was founded by Rev. Charles Nerinckx, in 1812, at Hardin's Creek, Wash- ington County, Kentucky. At that place Miss Mary Rhodes, a pious young lady, first gathered a little school of girls in a dilapi- dated cabin, the abandoned residence of a former tenant. Success crowned her efforts, and she was soon joined by others. A small tract of land was purchased and some rude cabins erected. They then expressed to Father Nerinckx a desire to become nuns and devote themselves to the work of edu- cating young ladies. Their wish met the approbation of Father Nerinckx and the bishop, and they were first made postulants. with a few simple rules for their guidance. On the 25th of April, 1812, the first three postulants-Mary Rhodes, Christina Stuart and Nancy Havern-took the veil at the Church of St. Charles, near the infant convent, and they were followed on the 25th of June by Ann Rhodes and Sarah Havern. Sister Ann Rhodes was also made "Superior of the Novices and of the Soci- ety of the Friends of Mary at the Foot of the Cross." On the same day was com- menced the erection of some log cabins for a convent, school, etc., and when these were completed the place received the name of Loretto, in honor of "Our Lady of Loretto," in Italy. Thus originated the order of the Sisters of Loretto. In August, 1880, the erection of a new academy was commenced under the supervision of Mother Ann Joseph, then Superior of the Convent, and was com- pleted in 1882, and was dedicated on the 8th of September of that year. There are now three branches to the house in St. Louis, one at 2505 North Eleventh Street, one at 2820 North Twenty-fifth Street, and one on Taylor Avenue, near Easton.
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